Cop15 Pavilion Is Built Out Of Shipping Containers

Danish architects MAPT sent us pictures of their COP15 pavilion, an "interactive exhibition focusing on urban sustainability" built out of shipping containers. Dezeen posts it with copy, so we learn that it is sort of a demonstration project for containerized housing, although this particular installation is neither insulated or enclosed. The architects write:

This is not recycling; it is upcycling.

With its pavilion project in the North Harbour Exhibition, MAPT has based its approach on the cradle-to-cradle principle, consigning the use-and-throw-out approach to the graveyard. The idea is simple: take a surplus product like an old, empty shipping container and give it some value again. In this way you have a supremely sustainable solution which can quickly be made exclusive in spite of the materials' original use.

The pavilion's containers can easily be reconverted to their life as a shipping container. Their flexibility ensures that they can be split up and used separately. The possibilities are endless. In the future, it will be possible to build both houses and second homes where the principle of sustainability is incorporated from beginning to end. After the exhibition for example, the City of Copenhagen will use two of the containers for cultural events or as venues for local meetings.

Can you live in a container?

Yes, it is absolutely possible to live in a container. You might think it is like living in a sardine tin! On the contrary, it can be a very spacious experience. The containers are like gigantic building blocks. They can be put together in all sorts of different ways. The sides can be opened up and they can be joined together. Instead of talking square meters, the container solution opens up for cubic meters - high to the ceiling, light and airy.